Hi guys,

I have 2 vacant units in the building. In the past, I always have a bunch of applicants and could pick the best one. Since last year, the amount of qualified prospects has dropped (I didn't raise my screening criteria) drastically. This year the amount of people calling to schedule the showing is even less than last year. I only advertise on Zillow. They automatically publishes the listing in Trulia and Hotpads. These 3 sites used to be enough to give me a steady flow of prospect traffic. Not any more. I'm thinking about posting on other online sites like apartment.com, craig's list, etc but not sure if that would help much.

I've been trying to catch good solid applicants since May of 1978, and ever since. Often I have to change my methods, advertising venue and tactics to catch a "fish"!

I never post ads in a Church! Why, when asked "In case of an emergency where the applicant couldn't pay all of the rent on time, what is the first thing the will do to come up with the full rent"? ANSWER: Prey! While non-Church applicants say, "Get a second Job or Work Overtime"!

Next: Price Point. When I first get little action during the first week or two of advertising, I "Normally" lower the price. But this sometimes back fires and gets me even LOWER-Class Applicants. INSTEAD: I Raise the Price, now attracting a Higher-Grade of Applicant.

In my B-/C+ area I have units that are in "Standard" Condition. Paint is 2 or 3 years old, but cleaned and touched up where ever necessary. Broken blinds are changed. Appliances are just cleaned.

When lookers come, walk-in and leave without taking a flyer or application, I know I'm going to have troubles finding someone good. So I re-brand that unit, or 1 in a bunch of units. New Appliances, All new Blinds, New LVP or Laminate flooring AND A SECOND WINDOW A/C : 1 in the Living Room and 1 in the Master Bedroom. THEN I bump up the price by $100 to $199 a month and the phone never stops ringing off the hook.

A $899 unit got up-graded and I then got $1,099/month.

A $1,200 unit got fixed up and then rented for $1,395-$1,450/mo.

A $1,600 uni went to $1895 without a problem.

AND I had a meeting with my current tenants. If they found me a qualified renter, I'd pay them a commission-$500.

Facebook Marketplace is where the under 35 crowd look for apartments.

Facebook Marketplace is where the under 35 crowd look for apartments.

I post on Facebook in a private group (14k members now though.) I do not use Marketplace, it's a zoo. NextDoor is okay if all you are targeting are locals.

Apartments.Com is worth it - all the big apartments here use it. It's on the side of buildings and such.

I hate Zillow - I get a lot of bad inquiries from it - but it's the most exposure.

I use Zillow, word of mouth and two local utility companies.

The utility company prospects have all but dried up. They do not update the list often and by the time they get down to my business name they have given up.

Word of mouth has been great. I do not always like the people that have been sent to me, but I have taken some.

Zillow works best for me now.

I used to put signs up with arrows. Buddy asked me why I would do that when mostly unemployed people were driving around looking, or moms that wanted their deadbeat kids gone.

FB is literally scams and deadbeats here. I go look once in a while but I will not post there again. Amazing the people that post on there that they just need one more chance. Wow, let the D class Landlords have them all. Money to be made, but not for me.

I don't like apartments.com because of one thing. You can't mask the exact street address in the ads. If they allowed address masking, they'd get a LOT more customers.

Should be able to describe the place such as: On Maple St or

Near Maple and Elm or in the Pinewood neighborhood. etc.

"accelerated social decay"

No doubt.

Thank you everyone for your reply.

Robert J[CA], "In case of an emergency where the applicant couldn't pay all of the rent on time, what is the first thing the will do to come up with the full rent"? ANSWER: Prey! --> haha That's funny :-D

NE[PA], "Beyond that, you just need to streamline the sifting through of our accelerated social decay". Yeah I feel like good prospects are disappearing. I need more prospects to screen.

TenantWhisperer [MA], good idea. Honestly I try to avoid younger crowd (under 30 yo). They're the most unstable due to high energy; move every year, fight between couples more, etc.

GKARL [PA], Turbo tenant? I'll do some research. Thanks.

WMH[NC, "I post on Facebook in a private group (14k members now though.)" Do you mean FB group for local tenants?

zero[IN], "The utility company prospects have all but dried up" Utility company? Do you mean that they help their employees find housing? Yes word of mouth is best but sadly it's the narrowest way IMO. Zillow works best for me as well but now it's drying up. Thanks for the tip on FB

mapleaf18 [NY], Good point. Masking the address should be an option. Squatter right BS needs to be crushed (like Florida did).

It's a group advertising ISO's and long-term rentals for offer for our area (OBX) only. The members are from all over the country though - people trying to move here or thinking about moving here or used to live here, own property here, etc. It's a "private" group so members have to ask to join and agree to rules, etc. We grow by leaps and bounds as NC has become the #1 state to move TO these days...

It's worked out well - we don't allow discussions at all so no trash talk, politics, whining, etc. You can post what you are looking for or what you have to offer, that's it. And we only allow long-term (year or more, unfurnished) rentals.

Chicago LL- The utility companies are in small towns. One is water only, the other is water and electric.

They have a list of landlords that provide housing in the area. For years that was the best way for me to get prospects.

Now with places like Zillow and Turbo Tenant less people go to the utility company looking. There are a couple FB pages that have the same list. Someone took a pic of it and uploaded.

WMH[NC], interesting. Never heard of such group before. I need to find one for my area here (Chicago). Are most members landlords? If so, wouldn't be better to advertise in groups that most members are renters?

" NC has become the #1 state to move TO these days."

Chicago, most members are RENTERS looking for places. A local person started the group and asked me to be admin a year or so later as it was growing so fast and kind of out of control. We worked together to make it JUST ISO's for renters, and JUST "For Long-Term Lease" for landlords, and it's really working out for us all.

Every now we slide off course into a discussion, it always goes sideways, and we have to step in and shut it down, ensuring we stick to our mission.